This MUSSI seminar/panel discussion will explore how dialogues within and outwith the Higher Education sector are converging around the need for a socio-cultural shift towards slowing down the pace of work, life and consumption, improving well-being and providing counter narratives to processes of globalisation and the ‘Gridlock’ that Hale, Held and Young (2013) write about.
In a seminar series initiated at Durham University and a series of Blogs, colleagues and Professor Maggie O’Neill have addressed the potential of the concept of the SLOW University for our experiences of work, life, time, well-being and the very meaning of the University in current times.
The motivation for organising the seminars emerged from dialogue with colleagues, our biographical experiences and resistance to the speeding up of Higher Education, the impact of the audit culture and ‘marketisation’; as well as growing pressures, for some, in relation to developing a work/life balance in the context of metrics, audit, efficiency, increased competition, demand management of research grant generation and the importance of hitting performance targets for career development and promotion. The gendered dimensions of these issues have been central to these discussions.
A networking reception will follow the discussion.
More information can be found on the eventbrite page where you can also register your interest here.